Chief Tomas Smith is retiring in May after 26.5 years on the St. Paul Police Department. If you’ve ever had the chance to meet the Chief at any time during his career, you can’t help but be aware of his commitment to physical fitness. For most of his adult years, Chief Smith was involved with competitive weight lifting. In addition, he enjoyed running for a good cardio work-out. He remained steadfast in maintaining a vigorous exercise routine for many years.
Turning 50 and becoming Chief of Police posed new challenges to his lifelong exercise routine. The Police Chief position is 24/7 and 365 days a year. In addition to the scheduled demands of the job, there are also the unforeseen events that occur requiring immediate attention. His plans for exercise (or anything else) could often come to a screeching halt. While he was not able to have as concrete of an exercise schedule, he did try to carve out Friday mornings, week-ends and available evenings for training. This didn’t always work, and he often would prioritize spending that free time with his family. So, while finding time to exercise has been a challenge with his busy schedule these past six years, the importance of fitness has remained ingrained into his lifestyle.
Now that retirement is around the corner, it is no surprise that getting back into a regular exercise routine is something the Chief is looking very much forward to resuming. He likes to cook and looks forward to experimenting with cooking healthy meals for his family. His focus will no longer be on competitive lifting; he has suffered the consequences of a lifetime of that with injuries to his joints. Instead, he is looking at exercise as a way to be healthier and injury-free. He sees himself doing more walking, training with lighter weights and even adding Yoga to the regimen. He will also be active by assisting his wife who coaches volleyball and softball for the West Side Boys and Girls Club. Most of all, he says, Chief Smith looks forward to being a better husband and grandfather.
We wish the Chief the best in his well-deserved retirement, and many happy, healthy years ahead.